I am not enjoying this season. Although watching the title race will be a ton of fun, i'll bet. The title-winners might not even make it to 80 points at this rate.

In other news, Jack Wilshere, still made of papier-mâché.

I dunno. People keep assuming Arsenal are going to come back to earth but this form has been going on since last year after the Spurs game.

If anything Chelsea, City and even United get into Arsenals level and the eventual winner is in that 90 point range.

Loving the pundits still not rating Arsenal though. You can tell the makeup of the players just feed off being slighted. I hope it lasts until the gap gets large enough that when the dip on form comes it's just to large to make up

Edit: this weekend will be telling. The old team would poop their pants. This one? Pressures off and i think they are chomping at the prospect of embarrassing United.

Ah right. Go early and bring a hod and you might make some of that back.

In other news, Republic of Ireland have appointed Martin O'Neill and Roy 'Gutless' Keane to the managerial post.

O'Neill shouldn't do too badly - his last few managerial postings demonstrated that he has no idea how to properly manage a squad over the long haul, but 10 games a season should be OK...not that anyone will be expecting anything once Robbie Keane retires. Gutless Bogtrotter will be as incompetent as he was at Sunderland and Ipswich, and indeed I'm not quite sure why O'Neill actually wants him around - it's not like he'll be adding any tactical nous or philosophical insights. His chats with the FAI should be amusing, no doubt they'll all be sitting happily together and chatting about the 2002 Would Cup.

- Everything is a little less stressful. Pellegrini still looks like an avucular Mafia don, but as he said when someone asked him about 'pressure' before the Derby, he's managed in a Buenos Aires derby, so everything else is a little lower-key.

- The approach is a lot more attacking, rather than counter-attacking. Negredo is a far better front man than Dzeko, and Fernandinho is at least as good at doing the unseen donkey work as Barry was, so the effect can be devastating pressure once in place (vide - all home games). Defense still needs some work, though conceding only a goal a game while having a +17 GD is hardly sieve-like. City could, and should, have gotten points out of all the games that have been lost.

- Some players seemed to have upped their game (Nasri) or rediscovered their form (Silva). I do have some slight queries about his preference for DeMichelis, who did not really impress either last night or against Norwich, over Lescott. I think the former is a few years past his prime, and even that wasn't that great.

- Not getting drawn into a CL Group of Death for once helps. BM are the gold standard for teams in Europe this season, so getting beaten by them is hardly the disaster that the cretinous English sports media who have just discovered the Bundesliga seemed to believe - let's not forget they went to the Camp Nou and won 3-0 at a canter, and they've strengthened since then.

Everyone is so poor this year. Every week I keep on expecting City, Tottenham and Chelsea to get into gear and it's just not happening. Eleven games in you wouldn't be expecting those teams on same amount of points as Liverpool, Southampton and Everton.

edit: Speaking of which, once again, amazing performance from all of Sunderland defenders in that second half. They were so unshakeable that I felt they easily could have played an extra time on top of that and not concede.